Oh, so many reasons to ditch that one. You’re right, Paula. The red flags were waving. That she was incredulous over your not using a CMS tells you the level of client she is. I don’t think I’ve ever had to use one. Project management tools, sure. But never a CMS.

Frankly, this woman would have lost me at the manual, and the mashup content would have been the nail in her coffin.

Although it sounded like quick little pieces I could fit around other work, it turned out they needed everything faster than fast. The things they called “articles” were really mashups of “news items” and tweets and gossip that they expected you to comb the internet for. Not only did writers have to file directly on their CMS (they sent me maybe a 30-page manual on how to use their system, which included confusing instructions on writing code to further customizing their supposedly already customized system). When I reminded the editor that I was a writer, not a web editor, and said I had never used a client’s CMS system before, she couldn’t believe it. She asked how I submitted articles to other clients. Um…as a Word Doc, sometimes as a Google Doc. You know, as it’s been done since the dark ages when I had to fax or mail my copy to my clients. I couldn’t believe any publication would trust a new-to-them freelancer with the password to their CMS.

The sheer amount of non-writing work they required made their already lower-end pay rates break down to next to nothing. I could dash out clean copy fast enough to earn decent pay, but not when you add in the fact that you had to edit your own copy, add links, select the art, make the layout fit their style, publish it, and then promote it and reply to comments. One “article” in, we both knew it was not a good fit.

Also, the editor was a micromanager.That alone is reason enough to ditch a client.

Exactly, Lori. Thanks. Seriously, this kind of marketing seems like the perfect way to play offense and redefine the market. We all know there is always someone to say ‘yes’ to an offer — and we know quality clients expect to pay for quality writers. Maybe several writers should try this strategy at the same time and see what unfolds!

Oh man, Gina. From your lips to the freelance gods’ ears!

But you’ve hit on something here. Writers SHOULD start marketing themselves at rates like that. Too many underprice themselves. Not that it hurts anyone who’s finding their own clients, but it creates that whirlpool of madness on job boards. People vying for the lowest rates just to get a job. No one needs to do that. EVER.